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Dungors
Dungors The Dungors are an intelligent, mobile species of fungus, humanoid in shape and small in stature. They are native to Dungoria, although there are communities of Dungors that have migrated to the surface. They are probably related to the now-extinct Ancients. The name Dungor is a corruption of Dungorian "Donkå" meaning "clever being". The Dungors average 5 feet 2 inches tall, with the tallest recorded Dungor standing at 5 feet 5 inches. They possess similar facial features to hominids but lack hair or lips, and have multiple eyelids rather than eyelashes to protect their completely black eyes. These eyes have excellent vision in darkness, but they are very sensitive to sudden lights. Their flesh is varying shades of pale grey, slightly darker at the ends of the arms and legs. They possess three fingers and a thumb on each hand, and three toes on each foot. Their whole body is covered in a short, thin white fuzz which is only visible in some angles of the light. Dungors can digest essentially anything, even if it is rotting or not even "food" at all; starving Dungors have been known to survive, although just barely, by eating soil and rocks. Dungors are highly resistant to diseases and toxins from rotting food - however this also makes them resistant to medicines, and comparatively huge doses are needed for such small creatures. Although many minor details regarding specific functions differ from their animal counterparts (such as the exact nature of their metabolism and digestion), Dungors are, for all intents and purposes, just like intelligent hominids of the animal kingdom, and it was not known they were fungal until the 1890s - however, it was still obvious that they were distinct from the other creatures of the world. Dungors reproduce asexually through spores, possessing no genitalia, and therefore they have no concept of physical attraction or modesty. As such, Dungors only wear clothes for warmth and protection - since Dungors are resistant to the cold and natively live in Dungoria which has a stable, warm temperature, this means that Dungors do not often wear a full set of clothes. Because they reproduce asexually, Dungors have no sexes, but they refer to themselves as male, and they are referred to in other languages as male. Dungors release spores once per year late in the spring, in an event that is highly ritualised. One Dungor can emit 10-30 spores at once, but most spores do not take root and fewer still live to adulthood - many Dungors do not emit a single successful spore in a year, but this is made up for by the consistency and scale of spore emission. Dungor spores are fed by being laid on a bed of ground-up food, which is regularly and gently stirred. Dungor spores are extremely vulnerable in this state, so they have to be constantly protected, and Dungors feel a very powerful protective instinct over spores, even if the spore is not their own. The act of producing and emitting spores consumes considerable energy, making the Dungor incredibly hungry - as such the spore-releasing ceremony is usually preceded by a lavish feast. Dungors produce spores from reaching maturity (after approximately 1 year and 3-5 months) until their death, but they can suppress spore production by reducing their food intake during the spore production period. Doing this enough times in succession will stop spore production completely until normal food habits are restored. This practice is often carried out by ascetic priests. Dungors have a life expectancy of approximately 50-60 years, with the oldest on record living to 70. The growth period of a spore to something that could be considered a self-sufficient entity is 3 months, and it takes another year to grow to full size. Although generally weaker and shorter-lived than Humans, Dungors are slightly more intelligent, with their average IQ estimated between 105 and 110. Dungors are also the only species with the same level of grim determination and insurmountable courage as the Humans, which is perhaps more impressive given their smaller size. Culture Dungorian culture is ancient, developing for the first few milennia of its existence in total isolation from the rest of the world, due to the isolation of Dungoria. When Dungoria was opened up in the Mortian War, Dungorian culture began to interact with the outside world, but they have always stuck by their old traditions, and their civilisation was already highly sophisticated by the time they made contact with the rest of Nesaria. Dungors have an ancient tradition of mining and smithing, and in the 2nd century BC they also began to develop an archer tradition, becoming excellent archers despite the low-power bows they were restricted to due to their physical weakness. Dungors were and to some extent still are famed as makers of weapons, armour and jewellery. As industrialisation took over, the hand-smithing industry began to die out in the rest of the Empire. Many Dungors followed suit, but many specialists continued their practice. Although hand-made Dungorian weapons, tools and jewellery are very expensive, they are of unmatched quality, and possessing them is a point of prestige. Dungorian specialists continue to serve as the sole providers of weapons and armour for Imperial Knights and Inquisitors. As mentioned, Dungors have no concept of modesty and only wore clothes for warmth, but they generally wear boots and gloves for protection, and it has long been fashionable to wear scarves, necklaces and decorative headgear such as circlets and tiaras (although in a somewhat less feminine style than those typically worn by females of other species). Having only one gender, Dungors express interest in both typically masculine and typically feminine fashion, but tend towards the masculine. The material used to make these clothes can be sourced from within the Dwarven Halls - for example, fungus-based lifeforms that live in Dungoria can be used to make materials very similar to leather, cotton and silk - or imported from outside, using traditional fabrics, bovine leather or silk. Usage in War The physical weakness of Dungors relative to other races made them historically less ideal as front-line troops, so they were usually employed as scouts, skirmishers and especially archers until the gunpowder era, when physical ability became significantly less important, and Dungors proved themselves excellent marksmen. Dungors have also always been useful for their ability to digest basically anything, making it very simple to supply them with food, and they can easily live off the land. Dungors were employed in increasing numbers from 1700 onwards, and played a major role in the Nesarian, Estemorian and Kazakh theatres of the Nesarian Civil War, predominantly fighting for the Loyalists. Similar to the High Elves, the Dungors were awarded their own uniform after their participation in the Great Russo-Nesarian War, which has a similar design to the Elvish uniform, sporting the same purple trim and a similar design, but with white instead of black. Dungors continued to prove their military prowess in both world wars and the War of Independence, when their stealth attacks became legendary amongst the Imperial army and terrifying to the enemy.